the end of the world as we know it?

Midweek I had a joyful eight hour round trip up to Cheltenham to collect my unsold exhibition pieces. Any show or exhibition has to be entered with the realisation that there is a strong possibility that nothing will sell. However after all the time and financial investment that goes into exhibiting you can't help but feel disappointed loading unsold work into the truck to be taken and stored in the workshop.

This is the second show I have exhibited in this summer, and although very different in set up and location both proved underwhelming in sales and inquiries. Now it could be argued that the underwhelming sales were a result of my underwhelming work, of course that could be a reason. In my defence I wasn't the only one feeling the cold chill of the exhibition hall. Using the gathering of furniture makers as an opportunity to chat about the past year and the one ahead I was left in no doubt that it's tough for everyone. The Celebration of Craftsmanship exhibition in Cheltenham is a prodigious event, showcasing the best makers currently working in the U.K. If these people are finding it tough, then its tough.

Each one told the same story, very few new inquiries, old clients working to a tight budget and material plus workshop costs increasing. 

It's common knowledge that you don't become a professional furniture maker in order to make money, but increasingly the cost to make versus the retail value of high end handmade furniture is a hard sum to square. As the world's wealth becomes  concentrated on fewer individuals, and the market place in which we used to work is now populated by clients who due to their own job insecurity and reduced financial resources are far less inclined to commission work, the prospects for a custom made furniture buisness will get bleaker.

the set up

The first days back at work after a two week break. Having spent the start of the week trying to get my head out of beach mode and back into a workshop mindset the last day of this week was taken up in front of the camera. The shoot was for a book idea that I have been putting together with a publishing company. We were working on final shots of the pieces to be featured, a front cover and a few work in progress images. Due to copyright issues I can't publish any of the pictures taken, even the ones featuring a dog and a chicken ( not joking ) I have to say the chicken was a pleasure to work with, and a true professional. 

Anybody who has had experience of a photoshoot will know if your not the photographer or art director but just the subject matter, you will be spending the best part of the day watching the shots being set up. Fighting the urge to wonder off while the scenes were being created, I decided to hang around watch and see if I could learn something. It was time well spent, doing a fare amount of photography for magazine and publicity work, although a total amateur I always try to produce shots that are clear and inform without being messy. Watching the professionals at work today was an education in precision and patience. Each setup was meticulously crafted to show the work to its best. So much effort was put into creating the right atsmophere with props, positioning and light that it took six hours to shoot just four pices of furniture. 

Hopefully some of the dedication I witnessed will inspire me, often the first impression a client has of our work is in the photographs we have taken of it. It's worth a bit of effort.

shading with sand

Tonight is the private view of the 'Celebration of Craftsmanship and Design Exibition' in Cheltinham. I've invited a few guests to come along. The exibition always has a special atsmophere, although everybody is there to sell it doesn't have the commercial hard edge that some shows can have. The setting of the famous lady's collage along with a tradition that sees the halls decked out in arrangements of exotic flowers which immerse you in rich sence as you move around the exhibits, is a beautiful inviroment to show your latest work to clients.

The second piece that I will be showing is a tall jewlery box. Commissioned by a magazine, this piece attempts to revisit the strong influence newly opened trading routes had on western design, most notably on both the Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles.

The main feature of the piece is a panel of marquetry that gives the impression of gazing into a Koi fish pond. I love to work in Marquetry. Designing the image, selecting the best shades and textures of veneer to bring your patten to life is so rewarding. It is a discipline that requires total concentration, control and the need to slow mind and body down. I could spend hours describing the diffrent knives, most home made, that I have collected over the years. The certain set of the cutting angle, or flex in the blade producing just the right cut for a tight curve, or a veneer with a stubborn grain.

The one technique that will allways find its way into my Marquetry work is that of shading with hot sand. Examples of this can be found from the dawn of Marquertry use. The simple prosses of dipping the edge of a section of veneer in a pattern into hot fine sand to scorch and in doing so add depth and interest to a picture amazes me. It's yet another age old woodworking technique that aththough primitive in its simplicity has the ability to be art.

oyster veneers

This time next week I will be heading up to the private view at The Celebration of Craftsmanship and Design exhibition at Cheltinham. This year I will be showing two pieces, one is a Japanise inspired jewlery box, the other a low round coffee table that I've named the Stump table.

Representing a section through a tree the table is made up of solid Cooper built Walnut sides, shaped round using first a belt sander, then turning to a spokeshave for the final fine adjustment. Once flat, the sides were evenly divided into strip sections of about 30mm. Useing these strips as guides I carved 6mm deep flutes leaving scoops in the finished carving which would give a texture representing tree bark.

For the top I had decided to use Walnut oysters. Cut like salami slices from a Walnut branch and then carefully dried Oysters were used widely in furniture in the middle of the 17th century. Some very fine examples of this style of veneer can be seen in Duch furniture of this period. Considering the unsophisticated tools and glues available to the craftsman of the time the standard of work is truly awe inspiring.

Success with Oyster work starts right at the beginning with the drying process. The best results are achived simply by tying a bundle of say ten Oysters cut at 3mm together and leaving them is a cool dry place in the workshop for about five years. If you need your Oysters a little bit sooner you can experiment with drying them in a Microwave cooker. This can be a bit hit or miss, and with both methods it has to be appreciated that you are working with a very unstable thin layer of end grain, which will never stop moving. 

This movement will have to be taken into account when cutting the Oysters into the ground work, glueing in place (I used a Glue from the Titebond range, they have great elasticity), and finally deciding on the  finish to be used ( oil is good, it enriches the wood and won't craze if movement occurs.

It's a pity that Oyster veneers are not used more often. Ok they can be a bit on the tricky side to use, but it's this and the interesting results that can be achived that make them worth the effort.

it should be an Olympic sport

Ended the week with some extreme hinge fitting. When time is on my side I will attempt to have every part of a project fitted in the workshop before installing it on site. However with one thing and another these last few weeks have been manic. I was lucky to hit the fixed completion date for a pair of fitted bookcases. So I was left with no choice but to leave the hanging of two pairs of doors on the day of delivery. As a rule I don't like working away from the comfort of the workshop. Here I have all the tools I need, I can make as much noise and mess as I like, in short it is my domain.  Working in somebody's home you are obliged to be on your best behaviour, and if some unforeseen problem arises it has to be solved useing only the tools and ingenuity you have to hand. I remember once working in an office in central London at about 8.00 at night and realising we had neglected to pack a hammer in the tool box! We ended up resorting to useing the battery end of a cordless drill. 

Back to my fitting day and my set of doors. Luckily this time I had all I needed with me, the only thing I was short of was time. The bookcases were installed, it was time to turn my attention to the doors. I had 45 minuites to fit them and no more, the room I was working in had just been expensively decorated so no mess and if that was'nt enought the client had just got a very bad temperd baby off to sleep after many attempts, so no noise!

Whatever your technical approach to hinging doors to achive good results it has to be carried out with a calm clear head. So it was that I took a few deep breaths, found my inner calm place, and went to work. 

OK maybe it wasn't a Gold performance, but I think I at least deserved a Silver.

a wonder in wood the Olympic Velodrome

With the Olympic opening ceremony only hours away I can't let the moment go without a mention of my personal favourite Olympic bulding the Velodrome.

Built on time and within budget by Hopkins Architects, the Velodrome is a stunning example of both building green and building with wood. From the elegance of the subtle curve of its exterior walls, clad in 5,000 square Meters of Western Red Cedar, to it's vast interior, which spare in construction, offers unrestricted views of all the action.

A team of 26 specialist carpenters led by designer Ron Webb, took only eight weeks to install the vast cycle track. Constructed using Siberian Pine grown in the permafrost of the north Russian wilderness. This timber grows straight and strong, yet is very malleable. The Pine was left for months to acclimatise in the venue before being laid with millimetre precision onto 356 trusses using 36,000 nails. Siberian Pine is reputed to produce the fastest surface, so we should see some records broken. 

Made from sustainabley sourced timber, the Velodrome is its own torch to just how we can be useing timber in major construction projects.

And best of luck to whichever flag you will be rooting for.

John

This small box of carving chisels were given to me this week by the widow of one of the three people who set me on the path to train as a woodworker. His name was John and he moved into the house opposite my childhood home. John ran a modest joinery shop in the local town, where he specialised in making widows and doors. Over the seven summers I spent hanging out with his two sons, I watched as he slowly transformed his house. First came new windows, then a beautifully proportioned staircase and after the house had been filled with tables chairs and cabinets a well appointed conservatory was built. However as a boy of twelve I was most in awe of the sailing dingy to be found taking up most of the space in the garage workshop. This was John's two year pet project. The boat was made of a rich dark Teak, the aroma of which would migrate over to me as I sat on our front lawn watching him sanding. After being finished in coats and coats of faultless gloss varnish, the boat was ready for its maiden voyage. John knew how we boys had patiently watched as the craft had taken shape, helping out with small tasks that were trusted to us. So when the bows cut a path through a cold November sea for the first time, it was with us boys, excitedly taking turns with the tiller.

John passed away last year. He was content with calling himself a carpenter, the term designer/maker or master craftsman did not sit well with him. To me John was a man who loved his craft, and the simple joy that came from making to the best of his abillitys. There could be no better inspiration.